Right before school started, Maggie and I took our annual back to school trip. I don’t remember how long we had done this, but these trips were our chance to talk about life, plan out the school year, and ultimately one last vent session before it was time to get back to business. All that kept ringing in my ears for the last few weeks was Pat Green and the lyric “sometimes you need a little hill country” so I carried on and booked the getaway to San Marcos. This would be a trip of basketball, water parks, river tubes, Austin, and one last stop to try to even out my farmer tan—Hamilton pool. Oh and I forgot to mention, this would also be Maggie’s last back to school trip with me as she is trying to decide on where to go for school once she graduates, so I might have been in an emotional/nostalgic state of mind.

As we worked though the destinations, we of course had a blast, but something was different. It seemed everywhere we went there was political unrest, seemingly openly mocking Jesus, and people just unhappy. Fortunately for this trip, we had a lot of window time so Maggie and I got to discuss our faith and we had some very grown spiritual discussions. But as she fell asleep in the car, I started to feel a wave of, “Have I prepared her for this world?,” “Did I shelter her?” “Have I taught her to be unapologetic and faithful? “has God lost control?”

I didn’t sleep well that night and I started to look for a way to get out of the trip to Hamilton Pool. If you’ve never been, it’s a natural limestone grotto with a waterfall and swimming hole—it’s beautiful and worth the trip if you can get a reservation. I checked the morning and night before, fingers crossed that the pool was closed, checked the weather hoping for rain, anything that I could justify just getting home early.

No luck, so we made the drive out to Hamilton pool early morning, hiked down to swimming hole and jumped in. Looking back there were some signs something was about to happen. When I walked in, there were two little boys playing, Judah and Joseph and a mother named Ruth. There was another couple praying and just thanking God for the beauty, and just saying, “How can you look at this and not believe in God (Maggie and I both agreed).

While those signs weren’t obvious at the time, in walked a group of 3. A man in his 30’s who I will say looked like Post Malone, and a gray haired male and female. I talked a little to the younger man as he had several religious tattoos so we talked a little religion, just friendly banter really offering to take group pics and such. He went on to tell me that he was a preacher now after making some unfortunate choices when he was younger, but he’s learned and is redeemed now.

As I swam away to get a better look at the grotto, I could over hear this group’s conversation. I couldn’t hear word for word, but what I found is the lady was his mom, and she was embarrassed and ashamed for her past and kept apologizing to her son. He just lovingly told her how much he loved her and Jesus forgives. She began talking about how beautiful the pool was and that a spiritual place like that surely there are baptisms.

She then said I hope to get baptized here one day. Her son, quick to action asked, “Mom you’ve never been baptized?” I then heard her say that she was a believer but hadnt been baptized but would like to know how to do it, and then asked her son, “Could you baptize me?” At this point, I was unashamedly moving over to witness this. The son said, “Mom, I can baptize you right here right now if you’re ready.” He began to ask her if she believed Jesus died for her sins, if she was a sinner, and believed that Jesus was the only path to eternal salvation, asked a few more questions, then dunked her under the water. Finally, he raised her saying, “Buried with him in baptism, raised to walk in new life!”

I immediately told them congratulations and welcomed them. While the baptism was a great experience to witness, what really made an impression was the son’s response. Gasping for air, like one does when their hearts beating out of their chest and they can’t speak out of pure happiness or excitement, he told me, “I just baptized my mom. I had no idea this was going to happen today. I just love her. I love Jesus!” As he continued to give me the play by play. You could tell they had had a long road together, and he was just pure joy at that point.

That ride home is where I really started to soak in what was about to happen in just a few days. It was also a time that God answered every one of the questions, the doubts, worried I had earlier. Has God lost control, have I prepared my children to take on the world, his answer, Joshua 1:9
“Have I not commanded you to be strong and courageous? Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.” He also reminded me, He’s known my kids longer than me—stop worrying. He’s got this. Jeremiah 1:5 “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.” Basically telling me, He’s been in control. He just let me think I was holding the steering wheel.

This trip taught and reminded me of so many things that I needed and just at the perfect time. I was so encouraged by this family and the willingness to answer God’s call on God’s time, not when convenient to him. It was such an awesome showing of how the Spirit moves and you can’t plan for it—you have to be ready at all times and courageous to act. So my last thought, would I be ready to testify, is my daughter ready to testify if needed, is she ready for this new world? I got one more knock—Acts 1:8 “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” Thank you Hill Country, thank you family, and thank you God!

“The eyes of the LORD are on the righteous, And His ears are open to their cry.”

‭‭Psalms‬ ‭34‬:‭15‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

A couple Sundays ago my pastor used this scripture in his sermon and it has been on my heart since.  I knew immediately I would share about it, but didn’t really know at the time how I would share it.  I just continued to think about – let it simmer in my heart 

Then God showed me.  

It was so strange when God brought what I was to share because I was sitting in the middle of the recent Rise & Shine Conference and I was so absorbed by what I was listening to about prayer, but I was hearing from God at the same exact time.  How in the world I was hearing Him thru the speaker and also directly from Him was the strangest thing.  Somehow I was absorbing both messages.  Only God.  

I’m about to take off my wife, mom, court clerk and chicken lady uniform and put on a uniform that some still can’t imagine me wearing.  I’m putting on my hunting uniform. Yes, all the camo and a backpack full of Christmas Tree Cakes.  So, stick with me as I take you to my deer stand. 

This one particular time last year I was sitting on my stand and it was getting about time to call it quits and get off the stand.  I knew Steven would be coming eventually to get me on my chariot aka the SXS.  I had mentally decided I was done hunting as I was watching a doe out of one of my windows and was about to pack up my things. 

I watched this doe for a bit and then noticed a dark spot creeping up behind her.  However, I assumed it was nothing worth looking at and just nonchalantly put my gun out the window to look thru my scope.  Fully expecting it to be a small buck. 

The longer I looked thru the scope the more I realized how big this buck really was.  It was considered a trophy.  

I was so thrown off and started shaking and fumbling around trying to take the safety off.  It was in my scope walking closer and closer to me, and the doe he was wanting to be friends with.   

Things happened so fast.  The doe trotted off into the woods, which meant he started going after her.  I had a split second to get the safety off, get him in the scope and be the sharp shooter that I am.🤣

I missed. 😭🦌 

I learned what buck fever was on that particular day, but didn’t bring home the prize that brought all those feelings of shaking, fast heart beats and hands sweating. 

Now go back to the scripture and read it.  

Before I go on let me explain…the righteous. The righteous are the one’s who align with God, who seek His righteousness and His Kingdom first.  The righteous are not the “better than though” that put their check mark beside church attendance every Sunday.  

If I’m in the Lord’s sight I’m exactly where I need to be for Him to bring me home.  His eyes are on the righteous.  

When I get my focus on things of this world I’m going to run out of His sight.

The place I want to be is in His sight.  I have somewhere I’m going and that place is called Heaven.  I want to take as many people with me, but my main focus is getting myself there.  I have to stay in His sight to get there. 

I have to ask myself what’s gotten me out of His sight?  What diverts my attention somewhere else to the point I get out of His sight? 

If the trophy buck would have just kept trotting towards me I would have taken him home, but his attention was on the doe and she took a turn, which diverted his attention.  He left my sights just that fast.  Fast enough I couldn’t make the shot.   

Make it your goal as a righteous child of the King to stay in His sight.  This world is not our home.  We’re just passing thru.  While we’re passing thru  let’s be the greatest example we can to win other’s over for Jesus. 

Stay in His sight!🪶

Right before school started, Maggie and I took our annual back to school trip. I don’t remember how long we had done this, but these trips were our chance to talk about life, plan out the school year, and ultimately one last vent session before it was time to get back to business. All that kept ringing in my ears for the last few weeks was Pat Green and the lyric “sometimes you need a little hill country” so I carried on and booked the getaway to San Marcos. This would be a trip of basketball, water parks, river tubes, Austin, and one last stop to try to even out my farmer tan—Hamilton pool. Oh and I forgot to mention, this would also be Maggie’s last back to school trip with me as she is trying to decide on where to go for school once she graduates, so I might have been in an emotional/nostalgic state of mind. 

As we worked though the destinations, we of course had a blast, but something was different. It seemed everywhere we went there was political unrest, seemingly openly mocking Jesus, and people just unhappy. Fortunately for this trip, we had a lot of window time so Maggie and I got to discuss our faith and we had some very grown spiritual discussions. But as she fell asleep in the car, I started to feel a wave of, “Have I prepared her for this world?,” “Did I shelter her?” “Have I taught her to be unapologetic and faithful? “has God lost control?” 

I didn’t sleep well that night and I started to look for a way to get out of the trip to Hamilton Pool. If you’ve never been, it’s a natural limestone grotto with a waterfall and swimming hole—it’s beautiful and worth the trip if you can get a reservation. I checked the morning and night before, fingers crossed that the pool was closed, checked the weather hoping for rain, anything that I could justify just getting home early.  No luck, so we made the drive out to Hamilton pool early morning, hiked down to swimming hole and jumped in. Looking back there were some signs something was about to happen. When I walked in, there were two little boys playing, Judah and Joseph and a mother named Ruth. There was another couple praying and just thanking God for the beauty, and just saying, “How can you look at this and not believe in God (Maggie and I both agreed). While those signs weren’t obvious at the time, in walked a group of 3. A man in his 30’s who I will say looked like Post Malone, and a gray haired male and female. I talked a little to the younger man as he had several religious tattoos so we talked a little religion, just friendly banter really offering to take group pics and such. He went on to tell me that he was a preacher now after making some unfortunate choices when he was younger, but he’s learned and is redeemed now.

As I swam away to get a better look at the grotto, I could over hear this group’s conversation. I couldn’t hear word for word, but what I found is the lady was his mom, and she was embarrassed and ashamed for her past and kept apologizing to her son. He just lovingly told her how much he loved her and Jesus forgives. She began talking about how beautiful the pool was and that a spiritual place like that surely there are baptisms. She then said I hope to get baptized here one day. Her son, quick to action asked, “Mom you’ve never been baptized?” I then heard her say that she was a believer but hadnt been baptized  but would like to know how to do it, and then asked her son, “Could you baptize me?” At this point, I was unashamedly moving over to witness this. The son said, “Mom, I can baptize you right here right now if you’re ready.” He began to ask her if she believed Jesus died for her sins, if she was a sinner, and believed that Jesus was the only path to eternal salvation, asked a few more questions, then dunked her under the water. Finally, he raised her saying, “Buried with him in baptism, raised to walk in new life!” 

I immediately told them congratulations and welcomed them. While the baptism was a great experience to witness, what really made an impression was the son’s response. Gasping for air, like one does when their hearts beating out of their chest and they can’t speak out of pure happiness or excitement, he told me, “I just baptized my mom. I had no idea this was going to happen today. I just love her. I love Jesus!”  As he continued  to give me the play by play. You could tell they had had a long road together, and he was just pure joy at that point.

That ride home is where I really started to soak in what was about to happen in just a few days. It was also a time that God answered every one of the questions, the doubts, worried I had earlier. Has God lost control, have I prepared my children to take on the world, his answer, Joshua 1:9

“Have I not commanded you to be strong and courageous? Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.” He also reminded me, He’s known my kids longer than me—stop worrying. He’s got this. Jeremiah 1:5 “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.” Basically telling me, He’s been in control. He just let me think I was holding the steering wheel. 

This trip taught and reminded me of so many things that I needed and just at the perfect time.  I was so encouraged by this family and the willingness to answer God’s call on God’s time, not when convenient to him. It was such an awesome showing of how the Spirit moves and you can’t plan for it—you have to be ready at all times and courageous to act. So my last thought, would I be ready to testify, is my daughter ready to testify if needed, is she ready for this new world? I got one more knock—Acts 1:8 “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” Thank you Hill Country, thank you family, and thank you God!

If your age begins with a 4 or higher you will most likely recall where you were and what you were doing 25 years ago on September 11th, 2001. For many of us that are younger in that age window, we were motivated to pick our profession based off what happened that day. 

Many of us picked a profession of service motivated by the feelings we felt the day we saw the buildings fall. We developed a strong desire to serve. Although that day was a meaningful and powerful day to many of us, the eagerness to serve others is not new. Or at least it shouldn’t be. 

Jesus Christ gave us two extraordinary examples of services that predated September 11th by more than 2,000 years. In John 13 we see Jesus wash the feet of his disciples. Jesus removed his outer clothing, wrapped a towel around his waist, and washed his disciples’ feet (John 13:1–17)—an act typically performed by servants. The foot-washing was shocking because it violated social hierarchies—the rabbi performed the work of slaves.

After completing this humble task, he explained that since he, their teacher and lord, had washed their feet, they should do the same for one another, having received an example to follow (John 13:1–17). 

This wasn’t mere instruction; it was embodied service that redefined leadership. Although important in the ministry and life of Jesus, washing of his disciples feet was not the most significant act of service our Lord and Savior committed. 

In the most obvious act of service was Jesus giving his life as a ransom for us all. Being born into this world to serve one purpose. A purpose that took 33 years to come to fruition. Jesus declared that he came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many (Mark 10:45). His entire mission centered on sacrificial service—the ultimate act of putting others’ needs above his own. There is not a single more significant act of service than that of Jesus Christ dying for our sins so that you, me and everyone else can live eternally. 

Jesus Christ embodied the true meaning of service. True service means caring for those we disagree with, those who’ve hurt us, those society dismisses—not because they’ve earned it, but because we follow Christ’s example of unconditional love expressed through action.

September 11th, 2001 was a significant day in the life of us all. Most importantly to those that died that day serving others. We should be motivated to service by the actions of those that day, but someone of far greater importance showed us what service looks like more than 2000 years earlier. Today, on the 25th anniversary of a day that many of us remember all too well, let’s honor those that died that day, and He who died 2026 years ago, by getting back to an attitude of service for others.

I was recently involved in a misunderstanding. A situation was misinterpreted and before the perceived issue was presented to me, conclusions had already been jumped to. I was met with something that felt closely related to an accusation and all of this happened within a matter of minutes. My mind was swimming. How did we get here? Every effort I made to clarify was met with more resistance and I felt obligated to explain myself in even greater detail. By the end of the interaction, I was not only frustrated, but heartbroken. Not only was the situation misunderstood, but as a person, I felt misunderstood too. 

The core of the issue was missing context, but the enemy took that and ran with it. As the author of confusion, he did just that; the enemy took what little information was available and spun it to fit a narrative that was untrue. Ephesians 6:12 tells us that our struggle is not against flesh and blood but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. John 10:10 tells us that the thief comes only to steal, kill, and destroy. The enemy has a mission of division, and in this situation, I was supposed to feel isolated, b lo othered, and at fault.

I brought my thoughts to the Lord in prayer: “Did I not do everything I was supposed to do? I have nothing to hide. Why did this happen? What more could I have done?”  I was stirred in my spirit and the Lord reminded me that this was nothing new; this was a dynamic that was ages old. Who knew it better that God’s own son? It was not my responsibility to facilitate and force understanding upon people who had already made up their minds. Jesus did not spend hours trying to convince the crowd why He was justified as they screamed to crucify Him. He simply sought do the will of the Father. It is my responsibility to reflect the image of Christ – especially when the situation is unfair. 

The Lord is not blind to our struggles. His knowledge is complete and perfect. In Psalm 139 David expresses in detail how we are fully known, understood, and loved by God. We can rest assured that there are no misunderstandings in Heaven, but we must remember that we have a responsibility while we are still here on earth. 

Let me ask you – when you look back on who you use to be, what is one area in your life you can see God’s growth the most? 

Last weekend… I knew it. I knew it as soon as it happened. I had pulled my sciatic nerve… again!

This time, I was just trying to teach my daughter some cheer skills on a casual evening in the backyard… Forreal! Listen adults – it is extra important that we take the time to stretch. Alright?

Hahaha… I’m laughing as I write this.

But here’s why I even bother sharing this. It reminded me that sometimes, we simply aren’t who we used to be.

Maybe we can’t do everything we once could, or maybe life looks a little different than it did years ago. But in so many areas of life, we can look back and confidently think, “Thank God I’ve grown. Thank God I’ve matured. Thank God I’m not who I used to be.”

As I thought about that, I realized how much I hope I’m not the same person I was ten years ago. Goodness, I hope I’m not even the same person I was last week. I hope I’m listening better instead of talking more, I hope I’m more patient, and less hard on myself. More than anything, I hope I am consistently growing closer to Jesus.

“And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.” Philippians 1:6 NLT

We are still growing. Still learning. Still becoming. Just because we can’t do everything we used to do doesn’t mean God can’t use us in new ways. There is beauty in looking back and realizing you’re not who you used to be. 

Remember this. Change is evidence that God is still working.

Romans 12:11 “Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord.”

 This time of year is the perfect time to ask yourself, “Am I treating my time with God as something that’s set apart?”

The relationship God desires with us is something we can’t comprehend. He listens to us in prayer and speaks to us through His word. We know from Romans 8 there’s absolutely nothing that can separate us from the love of God. 

Psalm 1:3 describes one who loves the word of the Lord as a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season. This is what we constantly need in our lives. Planted, producing spiritual fruit, drinking of the living water.

 Being rooted in the love of God not only produces spiritual fruit but spiritual strength. We abide in Christ and Christ in us, a unique fulfillment that surpasses all knowledge and understanding. 

My husband and I welcomed our first born, Jonah back in April. He is 4 months old and such a blessing. 

I am a stay at home mom so I am with him 24/7. It’s the best thing in the world. We recently had a rough day though. He is teething and has also decided for himself that he only needs to take two thirty minutes naps a day and that’s it. Lol. 

The other day he was super fussy from being tired and his teeth hurting him and he would not calm down. I tried everything. He wasn’t hungry, he had a fresh diaper, I tried teething drops, I tried a nap, I tried a nap with him laying on me, I tried going outside…. I tried everything and I said to myself, “ I cannot do this. Why can’t I figure out what’s wrong.” And immediately I felt the Holy Spirit telling me to pray. So I prayed and begged the Lord to help me and help Jonah. 10 minutes later he fell asleep in my arms and took an hour nap. 

Philippians 4:13 says that I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. This verse isn’t saying that God will give you strength to get through whatever you may be going through because you’re strong. No. It’s not about our own strength at all. It means that because of His strength we can do hard things. Because of the work on the cross we will make it through the battle. Because of Christ, through HIM and HIM alone we can do all things. Jesus died on the cross for my sins and your sins, but He rose 3 days later and because of that victory, the greatest one of all, the grace we need to survive our battles is given, and then some. 

I can do all things through Jesus Christ who showed the greatest strength ever, because He strengthens me because He saved me. 

I can get through a rough day with my 4 month old because of His strength on the cross. You can get through a rough day at work because of His strength. You can get through those family issues. You can get through the job search. You can get through your grief. You can get through your marriage struggles. Not by your strength, but by HIS strength, because He died for you.